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Chapter 1 : Confusion
Luna woke with a start gasping for breath as her hooves slammed down upon the bed forcing her into an upright position. “That dream was much more real than the ones I normally have” she said. Because she was still feeling dazed, all she could remember from the dream was an ominous dark figure with the glowing yellow eyes of an animal.
Still feeling emotionally shaken, Luna slowly crept her way out of bed and into the bathroom to get ready for the day, or in her case the night. On her way Luna found herself thinking about how events would unfold in the oncoming night. “No doubt I will have to be alone again” she thought. At this point she had given up hope of having someone to watch her, but she still had a duty to perform. Still feeling groggy she stumbled forward struggling to grab a brush, then she began to comb her mane with long gentle strokes so she would look presentable.
From Luna’s room came the beautifully faint and mellow sound of her sister's voice. “Luna its almost time for you to raise the moon. Are you ready?”. “In a minute” Luna replied. She turned back to the mirror to finish her preparations. As she did her eyes widened, and all of the nerves in her body jumped as she gasped with surprise! Her reflection had the same eyes as the creature in her dream. After settling from the shock she looked closer at her coat, which appeared to be darker. Realizing this, she leaped away from the mirror in a hurried commotion. Dropping her brush she let out another more distinct gasp. It seemed to only last a second, because by the time she mustered up the courage to look again she was back to normal.
Celestia hearing her sister's distress galloped frantically into the room and said “what’s wrong? Are you alright?”. Luna replied, “yes I'm fine it was nothing. I just thought I saw something in the mirror”. Celestia looked back at her with shock and disbelief, but did not press for more detail. Then she asked. “Are you ready to go?”. Luna replied quickly with a brisk nod, still wondering what she just saw.
Later outside on the balcony Celestia waited patiently for Luna to arrive. As she was cantering up from behind, Celestia's horn began to glow. She used her powers over the sun to lower it below the horizon. Turning to Luna Celestia gave her a look of exhaustion and began to slowly trot back inside. Just before she got back into the castle Luna called out, “Sister, would you spend some time with me? While I raise the moon, and create the constellations. You said you would and tonight is as good as any. There are a few creations I'd like you to see.”.
Luna hoped with all her might that her sister would agree. When Celestia's chest bellowed to let out a deep sigh, she knew what her answer would be. “I'm sorry, the day has been long and I am quite tired.”, Celestia replied. Upon hearing this Luna angrily looked at her with a grimace saying, “That's the same excuse you used the last dozen times. Why can’t you put aside your exhaustion and sit with me for a while?”. “Luna!”, Celestia replied with a saddened expression in her eyes as she turned towards her. “I know that you want me to see your hard work. I have no doubt that it is beautiful, but I have to think about my duties as princess of Equestira. Considering all the work I have, making myself more tired for this just doesn't seem like a smart thing to do. I know you've heard this before, but the next time I have a moment to spare I will sit with you. Then we can watch your work together, I promise.”. Luna only grunted and abruptly looked away from her sister. Seeing this Celestia looked upon her with remorse, then said “goodnight”.
After hearing her sister leave, Luna let out a fierce shout of frustration pounding her front hooves with enough force to make the floor crack. “I don’t understand why I must sit in my sisters shadow. Unnoticed by any pony including her. All I want is to be loved for the hard work I put into my night.”. At this point she couldn't hold the tears back. She felt the emotion welling up inside her, then began to cry.
From behind her Luna heard a voice that sounded dark as the night around her. It said “why don't you make them see the beauty in your night.”. She spun around agitated, looking high and low for the source of the voice not seeing see any pony. Crying out she said, “Show yourself coward! I know you're there and would like to know who dares play tricks on the princess of the night.”. She didn't receive an answer, slowly turning back Luna continued her work on the stars.
Luna redoubled her attention trying to forget the anger and hurt she'd felt only moments ago. This never worked, she could never quite forget. Later that night she finished the constellations. Then she flew out for her nightly patrol. This is part of her duty as princess of the night, which includes watching the dreams of her citizens. Swiftly flying, her thoughts went back to the conversation with her sister. Thinking about it made her sick. “I refuse to go on like this much longer”, Luna thought. “I have to figure out how to get people to love me like Celestia.”. Passing by a house, she felt strange yet familiar dreams coming from inside. she stopped with and abrupt jerk, sending head forward in a whipping motion.
Inside was a sleeping filly tossing and turning in her bed. She had a frightened look upon her face, as if her dreams were plagued with nightmares.“I normally don't like to reveal myself when I'm in their dreams. I think I might have to in order to figure out what's going on.”, she said to herself. Her horn began to glow with a light blue aura, which began to pulse as it became even brighter. Reaching it's climax her whole body disappeared with a blinding flash of white light. Leaving behind a minute haze of magical energy.
Physically entering the dream-space was disorienting for Luna due to the immense amount of energy it consumed. Her body phased into it's recognizable form. She noticed the filly huddled in a ball hiding from something. Seeing this Luna asked why her dreams seemed so dark. Instead of answering, she jumped to her hooves and screamed. With a terrified look on her face she fled in desperation shouting “Monster! Monster!” Luna cried out, “Stop, why are you running? I'm here to help you.”.
Luna's instincts spurred something inside her. This gave her the courage to swing around with precision and confront the monster. As she did her jaw opened slightly in amazement. “There is nothing here. Why would the filly run?” she said to herself. Then she thought about it and said, “Did she mean me?”. After a moment Luna spotted a puddle near her feet. She peered over the shimmering surface of the puddle. The terror of what she saw sent a cold chill down the length of her spine. “The same eyes from the mirror!”, she cried with shocked expression. Upon further examination, she could barley make out a glint of white protruding from her upper lip. Slowly opening her mouth exposed dreadfully sharp fangs instead of her normal teeth.
Feeling a tidal wave of fear and anguish crash down upon her, Luna scurried away from the puddle. Realizing what she'd seen couldn't possibly be real; she took a second look at her reflection. To her surprise the features were still very real. While gazing into the seemingly bottomless pool, her reflection began to form a smirk. Knowing this couldn't possibly be real, she raised her front leg slamming it into the puddle. The force of her hoof distorted the image, sending a flurry of water into the air. Now covered with water and feeling saddened, decided it was time to take her leave. With another flash of magic, she found herself back outside the house of the filly. Traumatized, she abandoned her patrol flying back to the castle as fast as she could.
The events that took place still weighing heavily on her mind, Luna misjudged her trajectory. Forcefully hitting the balcony caused her to slide, nearly colliding with the castle wall. She sighed stopping to catch her breath. “What is going on tonight? Why do I keep seeing those images?”, she said to herself. Trotting back into her room, she looked in the mirror seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Feeling anxious to confide in some pony, she went to wake her sister so they could start the day. Even though she wanted to, she never once mentioned anything.
Even with all of her pent up emotions, Luna still managed to lower the moon without fail. Feeling tired and emotionally drained, she began the slowly crawl to her room. Before she could get very far Celestia called out. “Luna is everything all right? You seem frightened by something.”. Luna hesitated, “I-It’s nothing, I just didn’t sleep well last night. I'm hoping to turn in early tonight.”. Celestia stared at Luna with sharp piercing eyes, they seemed to see right through her. “Goodnight Luna”, Celestia said as she headed for the door. “Goodnight Celestia”, Luna replied.
Feeling weary, Luna collapsed on her bed with an agonizing thud. Haunted by the image of the anomaly's she'd seen. “I don’t know what that figure was, but I am going to find out more about it”, she thought. Thinking feverishly, she came up with a wonderfully clever idea. Her face blushed with excitement as her horn began to glow. “I'll just use my magic to recreate the dream.”, she said. Magical energy from her horn started to envelope her body. Covering her from head to hoof, gently rocking her to sleep. Slowly drifting to sleep, her body began to disappear. In an instant she reappeared standing in the dream fully awake.
Looking around, Luna found herself standing in a dark void. All she could see was seemingly endless darkness. “This can’t be where I dreamed of that figure, there's nothing here”, she said. From the darkness, a voice echoed from all around. “It sounds similar to the one I heard on the balcony.”, she thought. The voice replied, “You have finally come. Are you ready to show everyone the true beauty of our night?”. In a panic Luna wondered why the spell didn't work. Instead it seemed to give the dream a life of it's own. “I'm here to figure out what you are. Why are you part of my dreams? I've never seen you before. I'd like some more information.”. She replied bravely.
Luna knew she wasn't in danger, but she readied herself for an attack. Out of the darkness came a dark cloud of magical energy. Materializing into a body covered with darkness. Although she could make out a silhouette, the yellow glow of it's eyes could be seen clearly. “You come here seeking information, but I have none to give. You know who I am!”, The shadowy figure exclaimed. Luna replied, “I don't know who or what you are. If you're not going to give me information, I'll find out for myself.”.
Luna charged a spell that would remove the darkness surrounding the shadowy figure. “If only I could get a better look at it.”, she thought. As she fired the spell, the figure laughed as it passed right through. “You can’t hope to fight me here! This is my home!”, the figure shouted jubilantly then vanished. Luna cried out, “Your home I am the princess of the night! I have control over dreams not you!”. Feeling frightened she scanned the room for any trace of the figure, but saw nothing. The voice came back with a whisper, “You mean we right?”, laughing coldly. Before Luna could doing anything else, the spell wore off and she woke up. “We? What did the figure mean by that?” Luna said.